⚽️ Kick-off time: 9pm local/2pm AEST/5am BST/12am EDT
⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Martin
Meanwhile in Kansas City…. it may come as no surprise that Lionel Messi has taken just 76 minutes to stamp his mark on the tournament with a hat-trick for reigning champions Argentina in their opener against Algeria. Austria and Jordan must be quaking in their boots. Join Jonathan Howcroft for what remains of that Group J game.
The streets and cafes of Amman will be heaving this morning as Jordan make their World Cup debut. John Duerden looks at how Al-Nashama booked their ticket – and what to expect against Austria at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
Jordan v Austria has been used as an example of a game that will challenge Fifa’s dynamic pricing system but regardless of how full the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium is, the cafes in Amman’s Prince Muhammad Street and all around the country will be packed. They were a year ago, as fans watched Portugal beat Spain in the Uefa Nations League final, three days after the World Cup spot had been secured with the city still buzzing with the thought of Al-Nashama (The Chivalrous Ones) taking on the superstars of the world and … here they are.
But while Jordan may be more about team spirit, organisation and counterattacking, they have stars of their own. In the days after qualification, the faces of the big three forwards featured on billboards everywhere you looked, though they have had differing fortunes since.
Continue reading...Hopeful mood on war among European leaders at G7 summit; two crew killed in Ukrainian bomber plane crash. What we know on day 1,575
The US could soon reinstate sanctions on Russian oil shipments, Donald Trump indicated, as leaders at the G7 summit moved on Tuesday to put the war in Ukraine back on top of their agenda. Trump said the sanctions on Russia – partly waived by the US due to the Iran war, ostensibly to help lower oil prices – can go back in place as more oil moves through the strait of Hormuz. “Soon we’ll be able to do that because the oil is now flowing. We’re in a position to do that soon.”
Russia should make peace with Ukraine, the US president said after a “very good” meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Look, Russia should make a deal,” Trump told reporters, adding that too many young men were dying on the battlefield on both sides. “I’m gonna do whatever I can.” The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said of Trump’s statement: “I found him to be very cooperative, and I also saw him listening very attentively. And in that respect, once again, it gives me a certain degree of optimism that we here, as Europeans and as Americans, are now doing everything we can, together, to end the war.”
Zelenskyy told Reuters that G7 leaders agreed Russia was not winning the war and they discussed additional sanctions targeting Russia’s oil exports, its banking sector and its military production. Two European diplomats, however, told Reuters that Trump had been noncommittal on imposing further US sanctions on Moscow. A French diplomat said G7 leaders committed to providing Kyiv with more air defence capabilities.
Continue reading...Australian sprinter sets new national record of 14.96 in Ostrava
Result an improvement on teenager’s Diamond League debut
Teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout has flown home to finish third behind his training mate and new 150m world record holder Noah Lyles at the Golden Spike track and field meet in Ostrava.
Paris Olympics gold medallist Lyles clocked 14.67 seconds in the rarely-contested distance, smashing the previous previous mark of 14.92 set by Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson earlier this year in Florida.
Continue reading...Five episodes have been dubbed into Australian language Yolŋu Matha for Naidoc Week, with Bandit voiced by a founding member of rock band King Stingray
It’s already been translated into 120 languages around the world but soon the globally loved children’s show Bluey will be available in an Australian Indigenous language for the first time.
Five episodes from seasons one and two have been dubbed into Yolŋu Matha, the Australian First Nations language of North-east Arnhem Land, as part of an initiative for National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee (Naidoc) Week.
Continue reading...From Christian Pulisic and Antonee Robinson to Sergiño Dest and Folarin Balogun, the Socceroos will have their hands full in the Group D clash
In the so-called “Battle of Seattle”, the Socceroos face a range of threats against the USA on Friday (Saturday AEST): physical, technical and tactical. A draw will almost certainly secure a place in the round of 32 for the Socceroos and, after their heroics against Turkey, Australia can rightfully feel this is a game they can win. To do so, they will need to neutralise the most dangerous components of the USA menace.
Continue reading...Fat Burns ☮ has added a photo to the pool:
Many thanks for the visits, faves and comments. Cheers
Brown Falcon
Falco berigora
Description: Brown Falcons are small to medium-sized raptors (birds of prey). The female is larger than the male. The Brown Falcon has a range of plumage colours, from very dark brown to light brown above and off-white below. Generally, the upperparts are dark brown and the underparts are pale buff or cream. The sides of the head are brown with a characteristic tear-stripe below the eye. Birds from the tropical north are very dark, with a paler face and undertail, while those from central Australia are paler all over. Younger birds resemble dark adults, but have less obvious barring on the tail, and a buff-yellow colour on the face, throat and nape of the neck.
Similar species: Paler birds may often be confused with a related raptor (bird of prey), the Nankeen Kestrel, F. cenchroides, which is quite a bit smaller and has a more rufous crown. Dark Brown Falcons may be mistaken for slightly larger Black Falcon, F. subniger. The Black Falcon has longer legs and lacks barring on the tail. The Black Falcon also appears sleeker in shape and movements.
Distribution: The Brown Falcon ranges throughout Australia, and north to New Guinea.
Habitat: The Brown Falcon is found in all but the densest forests and is locally common throughout its range. The preferred habitat is open grassland and agricultural areas, with scattered trees or structures such as telegraph poles which it uses for perching. Around outback towns, the birds become quite tame and will allow quite close approach. Birds may stay within the same areas throughout the year or may move around locally in response to changes in conditions. Paler birds are usually associated with inland areas, but all the colour varieties are fairly scattered throughout the range.
Feeding: Brown Falcons are usually seen alone, searching for food from an exposed perch. When prey is sighted, the bird swoops down and grasps it in its claws (talons), killing the prey with a bite to the spine. The powerful bill has specialised 'tomial' teeth and matching notches for this purpose. Less often the species will hunt by hovering or gliding over the ground, often at great heights. Brown Falcons feed on small mammals, insects, reptiles and, less often, small birds.
Breeding: The nest used by the Brown Falcon is normally an old nest from another hawk species, but the species may build its own stick nest in a tree. Occasionally birds nest in open tree hollows. Both sexes share the incubation of the eggs, and both care for the young, although the female performs the bulk of these duties, while the male supplies most of the food.
Calls: Normally silent at rest, but gives some cackling and screeching notes when in flight.
Minimum Size: 41cm
Maximum Size: 51cm
Average size: 46cm
Average weight: 530g
Breeding season: June to November in the south; November to April in the north.
Clutch Size: 2 to 6 (usually 3)
Incubation: 30 days
Nestling Period: 45 days
(Source: www.birdsinbackyards.net; and Pizzey & Night, The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia)
© Chris Burns 20256__________________
All rights reserved.
This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
